Spring 2001 Table of Contents

Living With Washington's Wildlife: Rabbits

(Editor's note: WDFW's Seattle-area urban wildlife biologist Russell Link is compiling a series of "Living With Washington's Wildlife" factsheets for distribution at regional offices that will eventually be part of a new book, “Living With Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest.” This newsletter will regularly feature excerpts since many BWS managers have asked for help when some wildlife becomes too much of a good thing!)

Three species of rabbits are commonly seen in Washington, one native and two introduced species. The native Nuttall cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus nuttallii) is found throughout the eastern half of the state. The introduced eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) now lives throughout Washington, particularly in and around urban areas. The domestic rabbit, usually European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), is most often seen in the San Juan Islands, although its distribution is spreading.

Famous for their reproductive abilities, rabbits have a month-long gestation period, and three or four litters of four to eight young are born each year. Rabbits may live two or more years in the wild, but where predators are numerous they seldom live more than a year.

Rabbits tend to concentrate in brushy fence rows or field edges, gullies with cover, brush piles, or landscaped areas where food and shelter are suitable. Rabbits may spend their entire lives in an area two acres or less, but will travel a half mile or more when cover is disturbed or food supplies are low.

Cottontails do not dig their own burrows. They use natural cavities or burrows excavated by other animals. Underground dens are used primarily in extremely cold or wet weather and to escape predators. Brush piles, blackberry thickets, and other areas of cover are often adequate alternatives to burrows.

Rabbits make a nest-like depression just below the surface of the ground in dense cover. They use this fur-lined depression to hide, raise young, and stay warm. Rabbits spend most daylight hours lying in their nest, or dusting a few feet away from hiding areas. Few animals are as content to sit still for as long as rabbits, a trait they've likely developed to avoid being seen by predators.

Situations and Signs

A rabbit's appetite can get it in trouble with gardeners, landscapers, orchardists, and foresters during all seasons of the year. Rabbits feed on flowers and leafy plants during the growing season and the buds, stems, and bark of woody plants in the winter. In areas with snow cover for long periods, young plants may be clipped off at snow height, and trees and shrubs completely girdled. Evidence of rabbits can be identified by the appearance of gnawing on woody growth and the clean-cut, angled clipping of young stems. Distinctive, small round fecal droppings in the area are also a sign of their presence.

Exclusion Techniques

Chicken wire supported by sturdy stakes or posts every 6 to 8 feet is strong enough to exclude rabbits. Such fences need to be only 18-inches high, but require the bottom to be tight to the ground or buried a few inches. Be sure the mesh is 1 inch or smaller so that young rabbits will not be able to go through it. The lower 12 to 2 feet of an existing fence can also be covered with small wire mesh to exclude rabbits.

Some gardeners prefer to construct movable fence panels that can be stored as sections (2 x 8 feet is a handy size) and set out to protect the garden right after first planting, when damage is likely to be most severe. When rabbit presence is only sporadic or occasional, new plantings can be protected by using commercially sold "cloches" or 1-gallon plastic milk containers that have the bottom cut out and are placed over the seedling to provide protection both from rabbits and late frost.

Cylinders of 1/4 inch wire hardware cloth or 3/4-inch chicken wire will protect valuable young orchard trees or landscape plants. (1/4-inch hardware cloth also protects against mouse damage.) The cylinders should extend higher than a rabbit's reach while standing on the expected snow depth, and stand 1 to 2 inches out from the tree trunk. Commercial tree guards or tree wrap are other alternatives.

Repellents and other methods

Many homemade repellent strategies have been tried, with the usual varying results. Under some circumstances scare tape or balloons may frighten rabbits away from an area. The pinwheels sold to repel moles might provide a visual deterrent to rabbits. Small plots and individual plants can sometimes be protected with commercially available chemical repellents. Care should be taken not to use a repellent on plants that will be eaten (unless it specifies on the label that this can be done).

Encouraging the rabbit's natural predators—or at least not interfering with them—may aid in reducing rabbit damage. Eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, weasels, and snakes all help control rabbits.

Live trapping

Live trapping isn't usually recommended, for several reasons: Live trapping may not stop the problem because other rabbits will quickly move into a vacancy. A trapped and released rabbit will be stressed and unlikely to survive in an unfamiliar new location and territorial disputes may occur with resident rabbits. Relocation can spread diseases and create damage problems elsewhere.

If you think you need to live trap a rabbit, consult your local law enforcement office to determine whether trapping is allowed under law in your area.

Also, don't trap between October and March, because relocated animals may die from exposure or lack of food. Check the trap morning and evening because rabbits are susceptible to heat and hypothermia and can die in the trap; cover the trap with a piece of plastic and a board.

Live traps can be rented or purchased, set in the area of activity and baited with whatever is being eaten in the area.

Your local WDFW office has a list of Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators who can be hired to help deal with rabbits.

Previous section

Next section